In 2013 The Australia Institute released Trouble with childcare, which analysed the level of difficulties reported by families regarding the affordability of; access to; and quality of early childhood education and care services. The paper includes data and a number of findings relevant to the Inquiry into the delivery of quality and affordable early childhood education and care services. A summary of these findings (below) and the attached paper... Read More

The key points of this submission are that: Economic assessment of the projects does not comply with Director General’s Requirements (DGRs); That the justification of the project is based on incorrect information about the Australian East Coast gas market, and that the Department’s EAR is incorrect in relation to the implications of the project for greenhouse gas emissions.

The proposed Watermark Coal Project is for the construction of an open-cut mine into agricultural land and native forest, in the Liverpool Plains region, 25km south south-east of the township of Gunnedah and to the immediate west of the village of Breeza, within the Gunnedah Local Government Area. The proposal is for a 30-year open cut mine which will extract up to 10 million tonnes per annum of Run of Mine (ROM) coal. The Liverpool Plains is one... Read More

The Bulga Optimisation Project is a proposal to extend the Bulga open cut coal mine near Singleton, in the Hunter Valley, NSW. The Australia Institute made a submission on the economic assessment done as part of the response to submissions on the original Environmental Impact Statement. The revised assessment by Deloitte Access Economics is a marked improvement on the earlier assessment. The authors provide little detail around royalty calculatio... Read More

The Renewable Energy Target (RET) has been a very successful policy at reducing Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions by increasing renewable energy generation. This submission from The Australia Institute recommends that the RET be strengthened to take advantage of the imminent retirement of gas fired electricity generation from the NEM. This submission will focus on three main areas. The RET’s effect on emissions, the RET’s effect on elect... Read More

The Australia Institute made a submission to the Senate Economics Legislation Committee on the Tax Laws Amendment (Temporary Budget Repair Levy) Bill 2014 and related bills. This levy has the effect of increasing the marginal tax rate from 45 to 47 per cent on incomes over $180,000. Inclusive of the Medicare Levy and the DisabilityCare Australia levy the marginal rate increases from 47 to 49 per cent. According to the explanatory memorandum and t... Read More

The Australia Institute recently made a submission to the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee on the Trade and Foreign Investment (Protecting the Public Interest) Act 2014 which seeks to protect Australian laws by banning investor-state dispute settlement provisions.This submission looks not only at ISDS but also other elements of trade agreements which impact on these rights including the lack of information provided to citizens and the... Read More

The Coalpac project is a proposal to expand two coal mines owned by Coalpac, near Lithgow, NSW. In May 2014, The Australia Institute made a submission to the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) process, focussing on the economic assessment of the project. Key points: The coal price used in the EIS is either inaccurate or assumes the proponents behave irrationally.If prices in the EIS are accurate, many benefits will accrue to international inter... Read More

Angus Place is an underground coal mines near Lithgow, NSW. It is owned and operated by Centennial Coal, a subsidiary of Thai energy company, Banpu. The mine is located in environmentally sensitive areas, adjacent to several state forests and near the Gardens of Stone National Park. The Australia Institute made submissions on the Environmental Impact Statement of the proposal to expand the mine in May 2014. Key points: No discussion of assumption... Read More

Springvale Colliery is an underground coal mine near Lithgow, NSW. It is owned and operated by Centennial Coal, a subsidiary of Thai energy company, Banpu. The mine is located in environmentally sensitive areas, adjacent to several state forests and near the Gardens of Stone National Park. The Australia Institute made submissions on the Environmental Impact Statement of the proposal to expand the mine in May 2014. Key points: No discussion of ass... Read More

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